The Plated Stories Workshop/Retreat 'Inspiration' will be held the weekend of 16 - 18 April 2015 (Thursday 16 April lunch through Saturday night with departure Sunday 19 April after breakfast) at Hôtel Diderot, an enchanting 26-room auberge de charme dating from the 15th and 18th Centuries in the center of the medieval French town of Chinon on the banks of the Vienne River. We are excited to host our first Plated Stories France Workshop/Retreat at the Hôtel Diderot, the new adventure of Jamie and her French husband Jean-Pierre!

The hotel is situated in the heart of old Chinon, a stone’s throw from the Château de Chinon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in the heart of the Loire Valley and the Chinon vineyards. Chinon has inspired such great writers as native son François Rabelais, author of the tales of Gargantua & Pantagruel and Honoré de Balzac, author of La Comédie Humaine, who sojourned just outside the city for many years. The newly renovated château perched above the hotel and the city’s center, once a royal fort, was where Joan of Arc first met Charles VII.

The cost for the 3-day workshop is € 975 (euros) for double room occupancy and €1040 (euros) for single room occupancy and includes intensive, hands-on exercises in both writing and styling/photography, as well as understanding how text and images can work together to create a more powerful story. Cost also includes 3 days, 3 nights accommodation at Hotel Diderot and all meals (3 lunches, 3 dinners, 3 breakfasts and snacks and refreshments during the workshop) as well as one excursion. Workshop cost will not include airfare or transportation to or from the venue or insurance.
This Plated Stories workshop/retreat is based on the theme “Inspiration” - we plan to really delve into how inspiration works for the two of us, showing how we think and what we do when we’re in a rut, as well as how to to find inspiration in life and with what is around us - and how we each channel that inspiration into a project (a photo or a text); there will be plenty of demonstrations and personal insight alongside discussions and exercises designed to get you to think creatively and out of the box. You will be inspired to take that step beyond and you will learn how to channel your own creativity in new ways for your own purpose. The workshop is limited to a maximum 8 participants, creating a more intimate group, allowing for hands-on work and exercises, more individual analysis and coaching, roundtable discussions and lively exchange.
The workshop is ideal for experienced food or travel bloggers as well as food photographers and writers - aspiring or more experienced. Whether you combine photography and writing or concentrate on one or the other, the workshop will help you to build up your portfolio, hone your skills and find new creative energy.
This is not a workshop for beginners; an understanding of the basic elements of photography such as aperture, exposure and shutter speed, white balance and ISO is necessary along with laptop and post processing software (Photoshop, Paint, Lightroom or iPhoto etc.). A DSLR camera is a plus as is a tripod.